Deerfield man charged with shoplifting, possession of heroin

GREENFIELD — A Deerfield man faces heroin and shoplifting charges after police say he tried to steal several DVDs from a local supermarket.

Jacob Jarvenpaa, 32, whose last known address was given as being in Deerfield, pleaded innocent Wednesday in Greenfield District Court to charges of shoplifting and heroin possession.

Officer Patrick Buchanan said he was on patrol at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when he was flagged down and directed to the Big Y parking lot, where a struggle was reported.

Buchanan pulled up to the store’s entrance, and found a man and woman pinning Jarvenpaa to the ground outside, he wrote in his arrest report.

Big Y loss prevention officer Cassie Freeman was one of the two holding Jarvenpaa down. She told Buchanan that she had seen Jarvenpaa come into the store and take four movies from a shelf before turning up the soda aisle and shoving the movies into his pants, Buchanan wrote.

Freeman said she positioned herself by the exit, and approached Jarvenpaa when he walked outside. The suspect then tried to run off, but Freeman and an unnamed man were able to detain him, according to the report.

The two DVDs and two Blu-Rays were all the same movie, recently released sci-fi flick “Divergent,” and were valued at a total of $91.96.

Office Jason Kratz arrived as backup and took Jarvenpaa to the police station for booking.

Looking for other possible stolen items, Kratz opened Jarvenpaa’s backpack and discovered 10 bags of heroin marked “Candy Crush,” as well as an assortment of heroin paraphernalia, he wrote.

The bag contained what Kratz called a “work kit,” consisting of capped syringes, miniature cotton balls, spoons, alcohol wipes, tin cups, a rubber tourniquet, latex gloves and sterile water, according to his report.

Jarvenpaa was released on $500 bail, and set to return to court Sept. 8 for a pretrial conference.

You can reach David Rainville at: drainville@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 279 On Twitter, follow @RecorderRain